1

The Wagner-Song Munkwa Project and Its Legacy in the Research of Korean History1

Sun Joo Kim (Harvard University)

As Carter Eckert is quoted as saying in the obituary of Edward W. Wagner (1924–2001) in The

Harvard Gazette,2 Wagner’s work “transformed our understanding of late pre-modern Korean

institutions and society and laid the groundwork for all subsequent studies of Korean history.”

Wagner did so, most importantly, through his use of higher civil service examination rosters

(munkwa pangmok) and family genealogies (chokpo), both of which make up a large part of the

Korean rare book collection at the Harvard-Yenching Library. When Wagner started using both

these sources for his research and, in the former case, started computerizing them, almost no

scholar in Korea paid serious attention to them except for his longtime academic partner Song

Jun-ho (1922–2003). This chapter introduces the Wagner-Song Munkwa Project (hereafter the

Munkwa Project), the foremost scholarly project of Wagner’s career, shows how my research

has utilized genealogical records and the Munkwa database, and describes the kinds of

discoveries I have made through the foundation that Wagner laid down for us. Although the

Munkwa Project was a collaborative work between Wagner and Song, I only mention Wagner in

what follows because the purpose of this chapter is to honor his academic work and legacy.

1 This paper was prepared for the conference “Studies in Chosŏn Korea: A Conference

Commemorating the Work of Prof. Edward W. Wagner,” organized by Asian & Near Eastern

Languages Korea Section at the Brigham Young University, March 27–28, 2018, and was

updated May 14, 2019. An earlier version of this paper titled “Edward W. Wagner and His

Legacy: Toward New Horizons in the Research of Korean History,” was presented as Special

Lecture for the Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Edward W. Wagner’s Appointment,

organized by Harvard’s Korea Institute, September 29, 2008. 2 Ken Gewertz, “Edward Wagner Dies at 77,” in The Harvard Gazette (December 17, 2001). See

on-line Gazette archive at: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2001/12/harvard-gazette-

edward-wagner-dies-at-77/ (accessed on June 27, 2018).

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2001/12/harvard-gazette-edward-wagner-dies-at-77/https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2001/12/harvard-gazette-edward-wagner-dies-at-77/

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The Munkwa Project: A Brief History and Its Findings

Munkwa, the higher civil service examinations, were the primary means of recruiting officials for

major central and provincial government posts during the Chosŏn dynasty (1392–1910). Wagner

launched the Munkwa Project in 1966, in collaboration with the late Song Jun-ho and with

support from the Harvard-Yenching Institute, Harvard’s Korea Institute, and other

organizations.3 In a paper prepared for the 1976 meeting of the Social Science History

Association, Wagner notes that the Munkwa Project is “an attempt to define and characterize the

political-social elite component” of the Chosŏn dynasty “by analysis of the 14,600 men who

passed the higher civil service examination.”4 The “Statement of the Munkwa Project” submitted

to the Harvard-Yenching Institute on January 5, 1998 also states that the purpose of the project

was “a thorough investigation of the elite structure of the whole Chosŏn dynasty” and

“producing a comprehensive and well-organized roster of those elites,” primarily by

computerizing data related to more than 14,600 men who passed the munkwa during the Chosŏn

dynasty, as well as their close relatives.5

Raw data for the Munkwa Project come from several sources—most importantly, from a

number of different editions of the Kukcho munkwa pangmok (Comprehensive Munkwa Rosters

of the Chosŏn Dynasty) and from individual pangmok, the lists of successful candidates of a

particular civil service examination. They contain vital information for most munkwa passers

3 For a brief history of the Munkwa Project and its status after the two researchers Wagner and

Song passed away in 2001 and 2003 respectively, see Song Man-O, “The Wagner-Song Munkwa

Project: Its Value for Historical Research,” Chŏnbuk sahak 32 (2008): 205–10. 4 Edward W. Wagner, “Quantification and Study of Yi Dynasty Korean Elites,” paper prepared

for the meeting of the Social Science History Association, Philadelphia, October 29–31, 1976,

available at the Gateway to Premodern Korean Studies:

https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/gpks/wagner-papers (accessed on July 3, 2018). 5 Song June-ho and Edward W. Wagner, “Statement of the Munkwa Project” (January 5, 1998),

Edward W. Wagner Personal Archive, 1942–1998, HUM 243, Harvard University Archives,

Box 2, folder 17.

https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/gpks/wagner-papers

3

throughout the Chosŏn period, including each passer’s name and clan seat, courtesy name, year

of birth and death, status before the exam, positions held after the exam, residence, names of

three paternal ancestors, and marriage relationship, including father-in-law’s name and clan seat.

The genealogies often provide additional data on a candidate’s career, marriage relationships,

residence, and scholarly membership in the course of relating the candidate to others of the

lineage who played a significant role in Korea before and after the candidate’s own time. The

value of genealogies in verifying and augmenting information concerning the munkwa passers

cannot be overemphasized because Wagner estimated that about 90 percent of the munkwa

degree-holders could be located in genealogies. Other sources include munkwa graduates’

genealogies called munbo, local gazetteers (ŭpchi), and a variety of obituary documents.6

Wagner used the information obtained from these sources to develop the database known

as the Munkwa Project, which was designed to allow more than thirty different kinds of

information to be entered for each successful candidate. When he initiated the project in 1966,

computer technology required vastly different methodology and procedures than is the case

today, including creating a coding system, key-punching computer cards, assigning meaningful

numbers, and so forth. In the report on the project made to the twenty-second annual meeting of

the Association for Asian Studies in 1970, Wagner explains the processes he used to computerize

data extracted from the rosters and other primary sources, and how he had solved various

difficulties he encountered. He provides a number of sample images concerning his project—in

particular, data related to the successful munkwa candidate Yun Hyoson (1431–1503), whose

6 Concerning sources for the project, see Wagner, “Quantification and Study of Yi Dynasty

Korean Elites,” 2–3.

4

assigned identification number was 0947—to illuminate the complexity of the project.7 In the

aforementioned 1976 paper as well, Wagner discusses how he resolved encoding issues

regarding Chinese characters, Chinese character variation in Korean personal names and place

names, and cyclical dates.8 Although a number of different editions of database printouts became

available from the 1970s on, one of the end results of the Munkwa Project was a commercially

available website named “Wagner & Song Munkwa Roster of the Chosŏn Dynasty” developed

by Dongbang Media, which allowed users to search and trace data and get the results in the blink

of an eye (as of July 2018, however, the website seems no longer to be available).

By the mid-1970s, Wagner had begun to publish a number of important findings from the

Munkwa Project.9 Most notably, he emphasized the relative openness of the munkwa, which

resulted in a “marked diversity” in the composition of the Chosŏn elite and thereby contributed

to the stability of the system and the longevity of the Chosŏn dynasty. In relation to the northern

provinces in particular, he found that due to the openness of the system, “many ambitious lineage

groups in the north were striving to acquire the education and emulate the life-style of the

southern yangban.”10

Indeed, northerners in the late Chosŏn period became very successful in

obtaining the munkwa degree, to the extent that they outnumbered their southern counterparts.

A close analysis of the distribution of successful candidates from the northern provinces

reveals that P’yŏngan Province produced almost 70 percent of the north’s successful candidates

from about 50 percent of the total population of the north. More interestingly, a few places

7 Edward W. Wagner, “A Computer Study of Yi Dynasty Civil Examination Rosters,” a paper

read at the 22nd Annual Meeting, Association for Asian Studies, San Francisco, California (April

3, 1970). I consulted a copy in the Harvard-Yenching Library.

8 Wagner, “Quantification and Study of Yi Dynasty Korean Elites,” 3–6.

9 See Edward W. Wagner, “The Ladder of Success in Yi Dynasty Korea,” Occasional Papers on

Korea 1 (Apr. 1974): 1–8, and idem, “The Civil Examination Process as Social Leaven: The

Case of the Northern Provinces in the Yi Dynasty,” Korea Journal 17.1 (Jan. 1977): 22–27. 10

Wagner, “The Civil Examination Process as Social Leaven,” 26.

5

within each northern province show a heavy concentration of successful passers. For example,

Haeju and P’yŏngsan in Hwanghae, Hamhŭng and Anbyŏn in Hamgyŏng, and P’yŏngyang and

Chŏngju in P’yŏngan Province boasted a remarkable concentration of successful candidates. The

success of candidates from the town of Chŏngju, just north of the Ch’ŏngch’ŏn River in

P’yŏngan Province, was most striking. Chŏngju, whose population was less than 4 percent of

P’yŏngan and less than 2 percent of the total population of the northern provinces, produced 282

successful candidates—27 percent of the P’yŏngan total, and 18.7 percent of the overall northern

total.11

What are the social and political implications of the northerners’ phenomenal success in

the munkwa? Although Wagner acknowledged that northerners were discriminated against in

their bureaucratic advancement at the central court, he concluded that “the longevity of the Yi

dynasty is substantially owed to its ability to ensure physical and psychological contentment in

the lives of all major components of its population, not merely to a favored few.”12

However, in

light of northerners’ success in obtaining the munkwa degree, the connection between the

openness of the munkwa and the longevity of the dynasty requires further examination. One

critical weakness of Wagner’s thesis becomes apparent when we consider the Hong Kyŏngnae

Rebellion of 1812, whose geographical base was northern P’yŏngan Province, with Chŏngju

County as the rebels’ stronghold. Why did this large-scale anti-dynastic rebellion break out in the

place that produced so many munkwa degree-holders in the late Chosŏn dynasty? Wagner

11

Wagner, “The Civil Examination Process as Social Leaven,” 24. For in-depth discussion of

regional discrimination against the northerners, see Sun Joo Kim, Marginality and Subversion in

Korea: The Hong Kyŏngnae Rebellion of 1812 (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2007);

and Sun Joo Kim, “Introduction: Thinking Through Region,” in Sun Joo Kim, ed., The Northern

Region of Korea: History, Identity, and Culture (Seattle & London: University of Washington

Press, 2010), 3–17. 12

Wagner, “The Civil Examination Process as Social Leaven,” 27.

6

suggested that the munkwa had the effect of creating stability in society. Did the munkwa degree-

holders participate in the rebellion? If not, what were their attitudes toward the rebellion?

Complicating the Link between the Civil Service Examinations and the Stability of the

Chosŏn Dynasty

My own research on the Hong Kyŏngnae Rebellion has found no clear evidence that verifies the

participation of any munkwa degree-holder in the rebellion. As Table 1 shows, however, there

were quite a few cases in which close relatives of munkwa degree-holders did lend a hand to the

rebel leadership. For example, a government report shows that Kim Iksu (?–1812), the rebel

army’s chief commander of Kasan County, was Kim Sŏkt’ae’s (1764–?) youngest uncle.13

Searching the on-line Wagner & Song Munkwa Roster using the name “Kim Sokt’ae” in Korean

as the search word produced the information that (1) Kim Sokt’ae passed the munkwa in 1790; (2)

this Kim family’s clan seat is Sunch’on; and (3) they resided in Kasan, in northern P’yŏngan

Province. The genealogy for the Sunch’on Kim of Kasan lists Kim Sŏkt’ae and Kim Iksu just a

few pages apart.14

Further examination of the two sources, the munkwa database and the

genealogy, reveals that Kim Iksu—a rebel who died inside the walled town of Chŏngju while he

was resisting the government campaign—was a younger brother of Kim Kŏnsu (1790–1854),

who passed the munkwa in 1762. As Figure 1 shows, the family that descended from Kim Iksu’s

great grandfather produced nine munkwa passers in the late Chosŏn period––a remarkable

accomplishment.

13

Kwansŏ p’yŏngnallok [The Record of the Pacification Campaign of the Hong Kyŏngnae

Rebellion], 5 vols., edited by Han’gukhak munhŏn yŏn’guso (Seoul: Asea munhwasa, 1979), 3:

123. 14

Sunch’ŏn Kim ssi Ch’ŏrwŏngong-p’a sebo [The Genealogy of the Sunch’ŏn Kim,

Ch’ŏrwŏngong Branch] (Seoul: Sunch’ŏn Kim ssi Ch’ŏrwŏngong-p’a poso, 1980), 680–94.

7

In an ordinary genealogy, Kim Iksu’s name would not appear because he was a “traitor.”

The reason his name was recorded in this genealogy is most likely his grandson Kim Yu’s later

success in the munkwa in 1849. Sometime after the rebellion, Kim Iksu’s name must have been

cleared from the list of rebels, given that so many of his close blood associations earned the glory

of a munkwa degree after his disastrous involvement in the 1812 incident. A biographical essay

on Kim Sŏkt’ae in the genealogy testifies that Kim Sŏkt’ae was wealthy and played a key role in

feeding hunger-stricken people of Kasan County during the post-rebellion period.15

This

benevolent act probably helped the family erase the terrible memory of its affiliation with the

rebel side from popular memory as well as from public and private records.

Table 1. Munkwa Degree-Holders and Rebels

Name

(Residence)

Relation to the degree-holder Role played in the

rebellion

Kim Iksu

(Kasan)

Kim Sŏkt’ae’s (munkwa in 1790) uncle and

Kim Kŏnsu’s (munkwa in 1762) younger

brother

Chief commander of

Kasan

Kim Kukpŏm

or Ch’angbae

(Kwaksan)

His brother, Kim Ch’angje, passed the

munkwa in 1810

Strategist, and a

member of the

vanguard cavalry

Kim Sayong

(T’aech’ŏn)

Kim Ch’ijŏng’s (munkwa in 1783) remote

relative. Kim Ch’ijŏng was a candidate for

magistrate of T’aech’ŏn under the rebel

administration; Kim Sŏkt’ae of Kasan

(munkwa in 1790) was the father-in-law of

Kim Ch’ijŏng’s daughter

One of the core leaders

Kim Namch’o

(Chŏngju)

His son, Kim Insu, passed the munkwa in

1819

Supervised military

affairs under the rebels,

but fled after four days

Kye Namsim

(Sŏnch’ŏn)

His grandfather, Kye Tŏkhae, passed the

munkwa in 1774

As a master of occult

arts, devised a strategy

to occupy Ŭiju

Sŭng Ilsul

(Chŏngju)

Sŭng Ido’s (munkwa in 1675) close relative,

and Sŭng Kyŏnghang’s (munkwa in 1786)

Granary supervisor

15

Sunch’ŏn Kim ssi Ch’ŏrwŏngong-p’a sebo, 70.

8

close relative

Sŭng

Chŏnghang

(Chŏngju)

Sŭng Ryun’s (munkwa in 1774) remote

relative

Rebel military officer

Source: Sun Joo Kim, Marginality and Subversion in Korea, 62–63.

Figure 1. Kim Iksu and Munkwa Degree-Holders from His Immediate Family

Kŭkch’ung––Ch’angsŏn––*Hongjip

(1744)

Ch’anghu–––Koengjip––*Kŏnsu––*Sŏkt’ae–––Kyŏng–*Suin

(1762) (1790) (1855)

Chu–––*Sugan

(1853)

*Chun––Suhŏn–Yong–*Ch’angwŏn

(1840) (1885)

Sŏngri––––*Hyŏn

(1849)

Ch’isu

Iksu–––––Sŏkchŏm––*Yu (1867)

* Munkwa degree-holder, with the year of the degree in parentheses

Source: Sunch’ŏn Kim ssi Ch’ŏrwŏngong-p’a sebo, 669–98 and 760.

In addition to cases such as those of Kim Iksu and others shown in Table 1, two munkwa

passers, Paek Kyŏnghae (1765–1842) and Han Houn (1761–1812), seem to have been initially

sympathetic to the rebel side but changed their position later on.16

Furthermore, a number of

lower civil service exam degree-holders, military exam degree-holders, and former officials who

held centrally appointed posts participated in the rebellion.17

These facts cast doubt on the

stabilizing role presumably played by the civil service examinations.

16

Sun Joo Kim, Marginality and Subversion in Korea, 57–60. 17

Sun Joo Kim, Marginality and Subversion in Korea, 61–65.

9

If no munkwa passers supported the rebellion outright, were any of them actively

involved in putting down the rebellion, either by mobilizing militia forces or donating material

resources to the government side? Existing sources do not lend this much support. The central

court recognized the so-called six loyal subjects from the region—Han Houn, Paek Kyŏnghan

(?–1812), Che Kyŏnguk (1760–1812), Hŏ Hang (?–1812), Kim Taet’aek (?–1812), and Im

Chihwan (?–1812)—who died during the battle or were killed by the rebels for various reasons.

They were solemnly enshrined in the P’yojŏlsa (Temple of Illuminating Loyalty) after the

rebellion. Of these six, only Han Houn was a munkwa passer, and one other, Paek Kyŏnghan,

was the brother of Paek Kyŏnghae, a munkwa degree-holder. Im Chihwan, a descendant of a

military commander who died during the Manchu invasion in the early seventeenth century, was

a local scholar from Anju, P’yŏngan Province, who had been pursuing Confucian scholarship

when he volunteered to fight against the rebels. Che Kyŏnguk, who was from Seoul, had held a

minor provincial post and was a descendant of a war hero from the time of the Japanese invasion

in the late sixteenth century. The other two of the six loyalists were local military men at the

time.18

Table 2. Militia Leaders during the 1812 Hong Kyŏngnae Rebellion

Name Residence Occupation or Social status

Ch’a Kyŏngjin Sŏnch’ŏn Former Changnyŏng (third inspector of the Office

of the Inspector General), munkwa in 1789

An Myŏngryŏl Anju Local yangban (hyangin)

Kang Inhak Ch’angsŏng Kwŏn’gwan (outpost officer, Jr. 9)

Pak Taegwan Ch’ŏrsan Literary licentiate degree-holder (chinsa)

Kim Kukch’u Ch’ŏrsan Hallyang (military man without a post)

Ham Ŭihyŏng Hŭich’ŏn Hallyang

Song Chiryŏm Kanggye Yangban scholar (sain)

18

For more detailed discussion on these six loyalists, see Kim, Marginality and Subversion in

Korea, 148–49.

10

Kye Unhae Kanggye Hallyang

Kim Chonguk Kilchu Hallyang

Kang Chip Kwaksan Chwasu (director of local yangban association)

Wŏn Yŏngjŏng Kwaksan Hallyang

Kim Chihwan Kusŏng Former Manho (sub-area commander)

Kim Kyŏngno Pyŏktong Yangban scholar

Yi Sibok T’aech’ŏn Yangban scholar

Ch’oe Sinyŏp Ŭiju Military officer

Hong Yŏil Ŭiju Former Ch’ŏmsa (army second deputy commander)

Chŏng Naehong Ŭiju Yŏngjang (chief commander)

Source: Sun Joo Kim, Marginality and Subversion in Korea, 150.

Table 2 is a list of prominent militia leaders who mobilized troops, joined the government

campaign against the rebels, and were later recognized by the central court. Most of them were

local elites who were pursuing either Confucian scholarship or a military career, and they

included only one munkwa passer, Ch’a Kyŏngjin from Sŏnch’ŏn (first row).

What about those who donated material resources to help out the government side? As

Table 3 illustrates, munkwa passers did not chip in much. An Sagwon’ son An Kŭbin (?–1772),

from a very remote county, Pyŏktong, passed the munkwa, but only after the rebellion, in 1815.

Table 3. Donors to the Government Camp

Name (Residence) Social status Amount Reward

Hong Tŭkchu (Ŭiju) Confucian scholar

(yuhak)

1,218 sŏm of grain

and 5,200 yang

Entry-level office

Ch’a Hyŏnggi

(Sukch’ŏn)

Local yangban

(hyangin)

2,000 yang Military office in

border region

Pak Kyŏng (Anju) Local yangban 1,500 yang and 8

sŏm of grain

Military office in

border region

Kim Kyŏngjung

(Anju)

1,000 yang Pondo chŏllang

(local post)

Ch’a Hyŏnggyu

(Sukch’ŏn)

Literary licentiate

degree-holder

(chinsa)

30 sŏm of grain, 35

yang, and 7 cows

Provincial award as

wished

11

An Sagwŏn

(Pyŏktong)

Local yangban,

father of An Kŭbin

(munkwa 1815), and

grandfather of An

Kyohŭi (munkwa

1854)

100 sŏm of rice Provincial award as

wished

Kye Chinhŭng

(Chŭngsan)

Military officer 20 cows Provincial award as

wished

Yi Hyŏnt’aek

(Sakchu)

Hallyang 15 sŏm of rice and

10 cows

Provincial award as

wished

Source: Sun Joo Kim, Marginality and Subversion in Korea, 151.

To further contextualize these findings, Table 4 shows the number of munkwa passers

from P’yongan Province throughout the Chosŏn period. From this table, we know that there were

hundreds of munkwa passers from P’yongan Province from the late eighteenth century to the

1812 rebellion, many of whom might have been alive at the time of the rebellion. To make the

numbers make more sense, the total number of P’yŏngan people who passed the munkwa from

1770 to 1811 was 126. From Chŏngju alone, which was the rebels’ stronghold, there were 78

munkwa passers in the same forty-year period, and we can assume that many of them were alive

at the time of the rebellion and resided in the county (see Table 5). Yet very few of them

contributed to putting down the rebellion.

Table 4. Munkwa Passers from Northern and Southern P’yŏngan Province by 50-Year Periods

1392

–

1450

1451

–

1500

1501

–

1550

1551

–

1600

1601

–

1650

1651

–

1700

1701

–

1750

1751

–

1800

1801

–

1850

1851

–

1900

Total

Northern

P’yŏngan

2 3 26 57 160 147 202 597

Southern

P’yŏngan

5 9 8 14 26 47 63 78 85 151 486

Total 5 9 8 16 29 73 120 238 232 353 1083

12

Table 5. Munkwa Passers from Chŏngju by 50-Year Periods

1392

–

1450

1451

–

1500

1501

–

1550

1551

–

1600

1601

–

1650

1651

–

1700

1701

–

1750

1751

–

1800

1801

–

1850

1851

–

1900

Total

Chŏngju 12 26 90 81 73 282

What kind of conclusions can we draw from these data? The munkwa certainly was open

to a relatively large population, including northern literati. Despite social and cultural prejudice

and resultant political discrimination against northern residents, northern residents were not only

allowed to sit for the civil service examinations but did very well on them. Were northern exam

passers and their close relatives, as well as those passers with obscure backgrounds,

unambiguously satisfied with the fact that they had earned the great honor of entering the

pantheon of degree-holders, and did they thus develop a feeling that they were part of the ruling

elite of the dynasty? Was it almost automatic that they pledged their loyalty to the dynasty? Or

were they resentful that their chances of political and bureaucratic advancement were blocked

because of their less prominent pedigrees and their native places of origin? Consequently, would

they have accumulated so much resentment, frustration, and feeling of deprivation—because

their talent was not rewarded in fair ways—that they harbored treasonous thoughts against the

existing rule?

We have a mixed picture from the evidence presented so far. To a large degree, the

relative openness of the munkwa did stabilize the society, fulfilling the ambition and at the same

time neutralizing the anxiety of local elites. Yet, as many social scientists have argued, the

production and existence of a large pool of unemployed educated degree-holding elites is

13

unhealthy for the stability of society, whether or not those marginalized elites directly engage in

subversive activities. Especially when state institutions have been too rigid to absorb aspiring

elites who have therefore suffered financial trouble, marginalized elites have tended to channel

their discontent into open defiance of the state, leading to social and political chaos and,

ultimately, to regime changes.19

In this respect, one of Wagner’s remarks is worth citing. He said, “The importance of this

phenomenon for determining the course Korea took in the period of transition from traditional to

modern society must not be overlooked. In the light of the role of Chŏngju residents in late

traditional Korea, the fact that the famed Osan Chunghakkyo (Osan Middle School) was

established there takes on new meaning.”20

Although Wagner did not elaborate on this point, he

was aware that many people from P’yŏngan Province, Chŏngju and P’yŏngyang in particular,

became leaders of Korea’s modernization by rather swiftly turning their attention to Western

education and Western ideas.21

Such a turn to various modern apparatuses may have sprung from

accumulated frustration and unfulfilled aspiration due to their marginalized status despite their

success in munkwa in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Reconstructing Social Networks of Chosŏn Elite

The munkwa database, combined with other sources such as genealogies, is a useful tool for

reconstructing social networks of Chosŏn elite. An example is the case of Yi Sihang (1672–

19

Jack Goldstone, Revolution and Rebellion in the Early Modern World (Berkeley: University of

California Press, 1991). 20

Wagner, “The Civil Examination Process as Social Leaven,” 27. 21

For an examination of exemplary northerners who stood out as pioneers in various emerging

modern sectors, see Kyung Moon Hwang, Beyond Birth: Social Status in the Emergence of

Modern Korea (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2004), 248–89.

14

1736), who passed the munkwa in 1699.22

Yi was a member of the Suan Yi lineage from Unsan

County, located northeast of Chŏngju but a hinterland of northern P’yŏngan Province. The Suan

Yi descent group produced 26 munkwa passers, 23 of whom resided in the northern region.

Among those 23, seven passers hailed from Unsan and belonged to the particular family line

descended from Yi Ŭngjŏn, a sixteenth-century ancestor of Yi Sihang (see Figure 2), confirming

Wagner’s finding that munkwa passers tend to be concentrated within a small segment of a

descent group.23

Figure 2. Munkwa Passers of the Suan Yi Descent Group of Unsan

#Ŭngjŏn––Kyesul––Ch’angbŏn––Chŏnggo–––^Yu

^Yang

#Kyedal––Tongŭi––––Chŏnghan––Siham–––Sŏp––Yongjip––*Ingnyŏl

Kŭp––Ŭijip–––––*Sŭngnyŏl

*Sihang

Yŏngbŏn–#Chŏnghŏn––*#Sihong

^Kim

Kyeson––*Sobŏn–––#Chŏnggil–––Sijŏm––Yu––Chŏnghwi––Song––*#Chibong

––^Hong

#Yong

*Sijae

#Sirim

Kyeun

^Kim

* Munkwa degree-holder

^ Last name of sons-in-law who either held an exam degree or had degree-holders among their

immediate descendants

# Men whose spouse had close relatives who held exam degrees

Source: Sun Joo Kim, Voice from the North, 24.

22

The following discussion is based on Sun Joo Kim, Voice from the North: Resurrecting

Regional Identity through the Life and Work of Yi Sihang (1672–1736) (Stanford: Stanford

University Press, 2013). 23

Wagner, “The Korean Chokpo as a Historical Source,” paper presented at the World

Conference Records and Genealogical Seminar, Salt Lake City, Utah (August 5–8, 1969), 13.

15

An examination of the Suan Yi’s marriage ties shows that they formed multiple marriage

ties with the Yŏnan Kim of Chŏngju, which produced the highest number of munkwa passers

from Chŏngju—a phenomenal 51 of them. The Paech’on Cho family of Chŏngju, who produced

the second highest number of munkwa passers (29), is also closely related to the Suan Yi by

marriage (see Figure 3).

Figure 3. Marriage Ties among the Suan Yi (Unsan), Yŏnan Kim (Chŏngju), and Paech’ŏn Cho

(Chŏngju) Descent Groups

Kim Samjun

Kim Tŭkchi Kim Ŏkchi Yi Yŏngbŏn *Kim Sŏkchi

Kim Chŏngha Cho Suhyang==D D==Yi Chŏnghŏn Yi Chŏnggil = D Kim Toha

Kim Inman =========== D *Yi Sihong ==== D Kim Chinman

*Kim Munsŏ *Kim Insŏ

7 munkwa passers among Cho Suhyang’s descendants

* Munkwa degree-holder

== marriage relations

D Daughter

Source: Sun Joo Kim, Voice from the North, 32–36.

This is only a representative sample of the emerging social and cultural networks in the

seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that we can reconstruct from the munkwa database and

genealogies. From this discovery, we learn that the local elite society was very tightly knitted

together through marriage ties. Such close networks must have had a strong bearing on the

16

continued success in the munkwa exam among in-group network members. In addition, as

members of illustrious families, they certainly became leaders in various local matters, including

control of wealth.

Genealogies as Historical Source

One of the premodern sources that Wagner utilized to a great extent as he worked on the

Munkwa Project was family genealogies, the published records of a patrilineal descent structure.

In conventional historical study in Korea, genealogical records have been largely discredited for

their fraudulent content, namely, fabrication of records. Wagner, however, from early on asserted

the usefulness of genealogy as a historical source, as his 1969 essay on genealogies and other

works illustrate.24

In terms of the reliability of genealogy, Wagner points out that “deliberate falsification of

family records was unthinkable to those who took upon themselves the often awesome burden of

compiling and publishing a chokpo.” He continues to say that chokpo prefaces often inform the

reader of the pains taken to research and verify material of doubtful authenticity submitted to a

compilation committee. Basically, he thinks that the chokpo is “a faithful mirror of life” and that

outright forgery is not a serious problem in using chokpo as a source because such cases are

easily discovered upon close examination.25

In the late Chosŏn period, a written, published genealogy was not just a record of a

family’s past and present but an important site of memory—one that defined the status of its

24

Edward W. Wagner, “The Korean Chokpo as a Historical Source.” Also see his essay, “Two

Early Genealogies and Women’s Status in Early Yi Dynasty Korea,” in Laurel Kendall and Mark

Peterson, eds., Korean Women: View from the Inner Room (New Haven, Conn.: East Rock Press,

1983), 23–32. 25

Wagner, “The Korean Chokpo as a Historical Source,” 4.

17

commemorators, as well as of the living members of the lineage, at the time of compilation. The

greatness of ancestors, whether invented or not, affected the level of status of their descendants.

A genealogy is clearly a private record, yet its public nature cannot be overlooked.

Genealogy is surely one of many manifestations of the Confucian emphasis on ancestor

worship. Commemoration of ancestors took many forms, such as performing ancestral worship

rituals, compiling genealogy and exam rosters, erecting tomb inscriptions and guardian statues,

dedicating ancestors’ biographies, and publishing ancestors’ literary writings. Yet to view all

these cultural practices, including compiling and publishing genealogies, as simply a way for

elites to fulfill the Confucian value of filial piety is not satisfactory, because only a small fraction

of the people recorded in a family genealogy may have been true practitioners of Confucianism,

including ancestor rituals. Rather, a genealogy was a document that was instrumental in proving

one’s status—yangban elite status in particular—thus qualifying a man for state examinations or

for membership in the local yangban association. If these were the main reasons for genealogical

records, there is one big question that begs an answer: Why does a genealogy retain so many

names?

Although genealogy in general reflects hierarchical patrilineal structure, it also has

egalitarian features because a majority of members share the same kind of entry in a genealogy.

As Wagner mentions, most individuals recorded in a genealogy have plain records of birth and

death year, wife’s family name, and the location of their tomb; a few prominent ancestors, such

as munkwa degree-holders, have more embellished entries; and others have nothing recorded but

their name.26

Why did the compilers use such a format? And why was there a surge in

genealogical compilation and publication in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries? Why were

26

Wagner, “The Korean Chokpo as a Historical Source,” 4–5.

18

certain kinds of people interested in compiling genealogies?

I suggest that we regard the genealogy as an economic document.27

In the late Chosŏn,

military taxation was a heavy financial burden and was also stigmatized as a non-yangban

obligation. Local elites and their extended relatives employed every means possible to avoid

being listed in the military roster. Genealogy provided one useful space for such a purpose. The

function of genealogy or kinship organization evolved as social and economic conditions

changed over time. That is, as the taxation system changed in the late Chosŏn from a per capita

tax based on one’s status into a quota system for certain units of administration, villagers,

including yangban elites, found themselves pressured to meet an assigned amount of taxes.

Genealogical records in this case may have provided a base for sharing the tax levy among

lineage members, who oftentimes lived in the same village, ward, or sub-district area. All of

these factors partly explain the surge in genealogical compilation in the eighteenth and

nineteenth centuries.

What was the use of the information about the location of ancestral tombs? In Chosŏn

Korea, the forest surrounding a tomb belonged to the descendants of the tomb’s occupants.

Forests yield a number of important resources, including fuel. In light of the increasing number

of litigation cases over forest rights and stealing tomb sites (t’ujang) in the late Chosŏn dynasty,

genealogical records on tomb locations probably provided some proof of ownership of particular

forest lands.28

27

This point is inspired by Michael Szonyi, who has persuasively argued that economic factors

generated strategies of kinship organization in late imperial China, from his examination of the

people of the Fuzhou region in South China. Michael Szonyi, Practicing Kinship: Lineage and

Descent in Late Imperial China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002). 28

For specific criminal cases involving stealing tomb sites, see Sun Joo Kim and Jungwon Kim,

comp. and trans., Wrongful Deaths: Selected Inquest Records from Nineteenth-Century Korea

(Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2014), 47–54 and 129–203.

19

Lastly, for northern residents, genealogies provided another tool to authenticate their

status origin. Like people of Fuzhou in South China who wanted to fashion their origin from

North China for various reasons, northerners used the genealogical record—its prefaces and

postscripts in particular—as a site in which to encode their origin, explain when and why their

apical ancestors had moved to the place in the north where their descendants had then lived for

centuries, and make connections to their southern brethren.29

In sum, this chapter briefly has examined the history of the Munkwa Project. For a few decades

from the 1960s on, Wagner meticulously read, analyzed, interpreted, and digitized information

found in munkwa rosters and genealogies. There is no doubt that his unparalleled insight and

tireless diligence had a great influence on many students and on their scholarly endeavors. I have

shown a few ways in which my research has utilized the munkwa database to illustrate the link

between the civil service examinations and both dynastic (in)stability as well as elite social

networks. Other contributors to this book also demonstrate the efficacy of the munkwa database

in further understanding the nature of Chosŏn elites and society. As the famous statement in the

Analects says, “If one keeps cherishing one’s old knowledge so as to continually be acquiring

new, one may be a teacher of others.”30

In this way we learn from the past, and on the basis of

that groundwork we advance our knowledge further. The Munkwa Project, the product of an

extraordinary visionary, will continue to inspire and benefit researchers who seek to deepen our

understanding of Chosŏn society and culture.

29

For more discussion on the reliability of northern genealogies, see Sun Joo Kim, Marginality

and Subversion in Korea, 181–84. 30

子曰、溫故而知新、可以為師矣. The Analects, Wei Zheng 11 at:

https://ctext.org/analects/wei-zheng (accessed on July 5, 2018).

https://ctext.org/analects/wei-zheng

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Character List

changnyŏng 掌令

chinsa 進士

chokpo 族譜

ch’ŏmsa 僉使

chwasu 座首

hallang 閑良

hyangin 鄕人

Kukcho munkwa pangmok 國朝文科榜目

kwŏn’gwan 權官

manho 萬戶

munbo 文譜

munkwa 文科

Osan Chunghakkyo 五山中學校

pankmok 榜目

pondo chŏllang 本道殿廊

sain 士人

sŏm 石

t’ujang 偸葬

ŭpchi 邑誌

yang 兩

yŏngjang 營將

yuhak 幼學